Class of 2009 Earns 294 Degrees

Lainey S. Cronk, June 15, 2009

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The 285 graduates of Pacific Union College's Class of 2009
marched the final leg of their undergraduate career on Sunday, June 14, in
Commencement Grove. The president and academic dean gave 294 degrees (with 84
academic distinctions or honors), as well as granting two honorary doctorates
and honoring aviation program director William Price and business department
chair Richard Voth as Professors Emeriti.

Various programs, dedications, and meet-and-greets take
place during the entirety of Graduation Weekend, but the focal point of the
affair is Sunday morning in the wooded area known as Commencement Grove, at the
top of the hill. Family members arrived not long after a chilly dawn to save
the best seats. As graduates began to gather near McReynolds Hall to line up,
the most common activities were the adjusting of hats and the snapping of
photos, while questions included "Where do the faculty line up?"
"Do you sell hot chocolate?" "Where are the leis being sold?"
and "Honey, where's your camera?"

Although graduation is a time of some pomp and seriousness,
students always make it a personally meaningful event. "Not For Sale"
lettered on one cap celebrated the cause that students raised $10,000 for two
years ago. Pink ribbons on a married student's robe formed the letters "I
O U," which he said were for his wife, who put up with him as he finished
his degree. Others kept up the tradition of flinging corn tortillas into the
air throughout the program.

PUC president Richard Osborn and his wife, family pastor
Norma Osborn, spoke briefly about their time at PUC, since this will be
Osborn's final graduation as president as he transitions to a position with the
Western Association of Schools and Colleges. "[PUC] has students that are
diligent, creative, fun, spiritual - and Dick and I have thoroughly enjoyed…
all the ways in which they have shared their talents with us through drama,
music, art, project presentations, you name it - it has been an honor to be
here," Norma said.

This year, Ricardo Graham, chairman of the PUC Board of
Trustees and president of the Pacific Union Conference, addressed the
graduates. "Best wishes, congratulations, go forward and conquer your
world!" he told them. He also commended Osborn, who, he said, "has
guided PUC, with integrity and precise analysis of the challenges and
opportunities that face this education institution - Christian based, faith
oriented - into the 21st century." He added, "Fearless and
courageous, Dick has tackled some of the biggest challenges that have come to
PUC." Graham presented to Osborn a chair with the seal of PUC and the
dates of Osborn's presidency emblazoned on it.

Theodore Benson and Milton Hare, who received honorary
doctorates, were also present at the ceremony and spoke to the students. Hare
spoke at some length about his ministry taking lunches to the homeless in
Oakland, California, "searching out the isolated encampments of those who
only God and his followers take time to visit." Four years ago, he recounted,
students and others from the Angwin community first connected with the ministry
by gathering clothing, jackets, blankets, and hygiene kits. "Since
then," he recounted, "we've been joined by a steady stream of loving
Christians from the PUC community who have had the courage to minister with us
to an urban population that have traditionally been neglected by the Adventist
church."

The main address at the
program was given by the Honorable James Chang, a retired judge from the Santa
Clara County Superior Court who also attended PUC. "Do you want a title,
or a testimony?" he asked the graduates. "What are you going to shoot
for? The external trappings of success? Or are you able to be one of God's
people?" Title by itself, he said, is not wrong. But, as he said,
"It's a question of focus and priority. What is your focus? Is it
contribution or recognition?"